By Jordi Oliveres
“We’re going to play for you tonight, and we have no idea what we’re going to play,” confessed 83-year-old Benny Golson before starting a thrilling set at Jazz Standard on Sunday night. The legendary tenor wanted to make it perfectly clear that he and his superb band were going to play jazz solos the way they were meant to be played: improvised. And improvise they did; with the taste, grace, and skill only the masters of the genre can so effortlessly command.
Golson says his wife thinks he talks too much, but the stories he told about his early days growing up in Philadelphia – such as when John Coltrane played the saxophone in his living room – really put into perspective how much jazz history Benny has been a part of. Another anecdote recounted a gig with Jimmy Johnson and The Ambassadors that Coltrane and Golson had been told at the last minute was cancelled. Benny’s mom suggested the boys to go to the venue; when they showed up, the young saxophonists saw that they had replaced by two other players. They returned home disappointed, only to be comforted by Mrs. Golson’s prophetic words: “One day the two of you will be so good, they won’t be able to afford you.”
The first song of the night was the drowsily mid-tempo swing number, “Horizon Ahead.” Golson played the head with a gorgeous silky tone, followed by bluesy piano licks and a drum solo that snuck in-and-out of the groove seamlessly before the sax came in for one last chorus.
After a performance of “Talk To Me” that featured a virtuosic snare solo, Golson let his band improvise as a trio on Coltrane's “Naima” because he wanted to see them “having fun unfettered by my presence.” The touching performance prominently featured the piano, which alternated between lush chords and quick melodic phrases, slowly weaving together an ethereal sonic landscape.
The last song of the night was perhaps Golson’s best known number, “Killer Joe.” Rufus Reed slyly slid double stops along the neck of his bass while Benny played his classic six-note melody so coolly one could easily picture him in a pinstripe suit and pointed shoes ordering a drink in some sultry Chicago bar in the 50s.
The show ended exactly one hour after it began, which some might say was a bit short. But, in an era when so much of jazz consists of spitting out as many notes as possible within one measure, Golson reminded us that the best jazz is played with class, slowly luring you in rather than showing off all of your tricks in one solo. For jazz solos, as with set length, the old adage is true: less is more.